Doug (Disney era, seasons 5-7)
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 Not Funnie at this point (pun intended).
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Disney's Doug (Brand Spanking New! Doug before 1998 or simply titled Doug), is an American animated sitcom that was created by Jim Jinkins and produced by Jumbo Pictures for the Nickelodeon. The series premiered in 1991 on the cable network Nickelodeon, as the channel's first original animated content alongside Rugrats and The Ren and Stimpy Show. In 1996, Disney acquired the rights to the series thus giving the show a revival, retooling it with several creative changes, thus renaming it Brand Spanking New! Doug (retitled Disney's Doug in 1998), and airing it for three years on ABC's One Saturday Morning which consisted of 65 episodes over three seasons that were broadcast from 1996 to 1999.
While the Nickelodeon era was well-received, the Disney revival era received mixed reviews by fans and critics, it was even criticized by the casts of the show and the creator of the show Jim Jinkins himself due to charm of the nick era being absent and pointless changes.
Plot
Doug revolves around Douglas "Doug" Funnie, an 11, now 12-year-old boy who wants to be another face in the crowd, but by possessing a vivid imagination and a strong sense of morality, he is more likely to stand out. He keeps a journal, which he treats as an autobiography, as he records numerous experiences over the series, which range from learning to dance to getting a bad haircut. Doug Funnie and his family, which consists of his parents Theda and Phil, sister Judy, and dog Porkchop, move from the town of Bloatsburg to Bluffington after his dad receives a job promotion. Bluffington is in the United States but not in any specific U.S. state. However, Bluffington is loosely based on the city of Richmond, Virginia, where creator Jim Jinkins was born and raised.
Un-Funnie Qualities
- The main problem with this revival era is that it lacks the charm that the Nickelodeon era seasons had since Jim Jinkins was less involved in these seasons.
- As said before, there were a lot of unnecessary changes to the show that were introduced since the first episode of this era "Doug's Last Birthday", such as the replacement of Honker Burger (the gang's hangout in the original show) with a cheap French restaurant that is now run by a mean-spirited french owner. Along with some other unfortunate changes like:
- The Beets breaking up and have a whole running gag about them coming back, just to keep arguing.
- A new middle school was built, which leads to another running gag during the show about the school being unfinished, leading to many things missing or forgotten during the episodes.
- Smash Adams, Doug's favorite show, which is also a James Bond parody, being replaced by a more incompetent fat spy character.
- Roger Klotz becoming rich.
- The pacing for this era is much slower than the Nickelodeon era, which doesn't help that the episodes are now 22-23 minutes longer instead of 11 minutes. It doesn't help by the fact that some episodes don't have a subplot, making the episodes more boring to watch.
- Speaking of the pacing, these seasons make a lot of use of Doug's imaginary moments, which often end up serving as filler and lacks the charm the previous seasons had, just so the episodes can reach the 22-minute mark as said before.
- While the voice acting is still good for the most part, some of them had to be changed, like the characters that were voiced by Billy West, like Doug, Roger, Boomer, Coach Spitz, and Mr. Valentine.
- While not bad, Tom McHugh's acting isn't as good as Billy West's acting, although Jinkins worked hard to keep West on the series, Disney could not afford it. As his fame grew from voicing characters in Ren & Stimpy and other animated properties.
- Some of the characters' personalities got dumbed down:
- Doug Funnie, while still being likable, became a bit of a wimp during these seasons, particularly in the episodes focused between him and Patti, like in the episode "Doug's Dream House". Also, he even becomes more of a punching bag than he was in the Nickelodeon era seasons.
- Beebe Bluff's character was changed to become more of a spoiled rich girl during these seasons, and she started to become more mean towards the others, even her friends sometimes, making her a mean popular girl-type character.
- Judy Funnie, while still likable for the most part, she became more of a jerk during these seasons and sometimes tortures Doug (his brother) in some episodes, like "Doug's in Debt!".
- Only the fifth season, which is the first season of this era, is available on Disney+. This means that other seasons of this era and the previous Nickelodeon seasons are unavailable which can cause newcomers trying to watch this series lost in confusion.
- One of Doug's other alter egos: Smash Adams, except for the first episode as a parody show, and Race Canyon are nowhere to be seen or have barely even been mentioned in these seasons. Along with other characters in the series like Stinky, Roger's cat.
- These seasons take themselves too seriously, creating multiple conflicts just for the episodes to get longer.
- Although not very often and quite rare, these seasons make some use of toilet/gross-out humor, which seems very out of place since the Nickelodeon seasons barely made use of this kind of humor.
- Season 7 is when the show jumped the shark when they started to make more episodes focused on Quailman instead of Doug, to the point that it seems the writers were running out of ideas and decided to make more episodes focused on Doug's imagination as Quailman so the show could hit the 65-episode mark.
- There are plenty of bad/mediocre episodes, like:
- "Doug's Last Birthday" (Which started this era on a sour note and also started the downfall of the whole series)
- "Doug: A Limited Corporation"
- "Doug's in Debt!"
- "Doug's Big Comeback"
- "Doug's Hot Dog"
- "Doug Gets a Roommate"
- "Doug: Oh, Baby"
- "Doug's Disappearing Dog"
- "Doug on the Road" (not the best way to end season 5)
- "Doug's Secret of Success" (A bad way to start the 6th season)
- "Doug's Friend's Friend" (Arguably the worst episode of this era and probably the whole show)
- "Doug's Thanksgiving"
- "Doug's in the Middle"
- "Doug's Dream House "
- "Doug's Concert Crisis"
- "Judy's Big Admission"
- "Doug's Best Buddy" (Also counts as the worst)
- "Doug: Beebe Goes Broke"
- "Doug Plays Cupid"
- "Doug: I, Rubbersuit"
- Lamar Bone returns as the new vice-principal in the season 6 premiere "Doug's Secret of Sucess" and as usual, he's still an unlikable character. Heck, even the students didn't like it when they announced that he would be the new vice-principal.
- Doug's 1st Movie is a mediocre movie and it wasn't a good way to bring the series to the theaters, because of the cliche and poor writing.
Funnie Qualities
- This era can still be enjoyable to most people, despite its flaws and the lack of charm the Nickelodeon era has.
- The animation is great, and is a huge step-up from the Nickelodeon era, as Walt Disney Television Animation, the studio that animated this era, gave it a more polished and clean look.
- Most of the characters, such as Porkchop, Doug's parents, Mr. Dink, Roger, Doug and Judy (despite their personalities being changed), and Patti are still likable characters.
- Additionally, Roger becomes less mean against Doug and starts to act more of a friend towards him, even if he's still a bully character.
- Some characters like Connie, Fentruck, and Skunky began to have more prominence during the seasons, after being left as background characters in the Nickelodeon seasons.
- Dirtbike, Al, and Moo Sleech are decent characters and are great new additions to the show.
- There are some heartwarming moments, like the one about Patti's mother in the episode "Patti's Dad Dilemma"
- The voice acting is still great since the voice actors still reprise their roles, except for the characters who were voiced by Billy West.
- There are some good episodes, like:
- "Doug's Secret Christmas" (A better Christmas special episode than the Nickelodeon era)
- "Doug Gets Booked"
- "Doug's Minor Catastrophe"
- "Doug's Mural Mania "
- Doug's Chubby Buddy
- "Doug's Dougapalooza"
- "Doug Gets Right Back Out"
- "Doug and the Bluffington Five"
- "Patti's Dad Dilemma"
- "Doug Cuts School"
- "Doug's Adventures On-Line"
- "Doug's Grand Band Plan"
- "Doug's Marriage Madness" (which gives a proper conclusion to the series and this era)
- The Quailman-based episodes are still good, even with the excessive use of them in season 7.
- It still teaches some good morals, here and there. Like in the episode "Doug's Chubby Buddy", which talks about anorexia nervosa.
- Most of the new title cards are pretty creative and they are a huge step up from the previous seasons, as they all have a different variation depending on the theme of the episode, the title cards are considered one of the best things this revival has to offer.
- The new theme song is great and catchy.
Reception
While the original Nickelodeon series received mostly positive reviews, the Disney series received a more mixed reception from fans and critics.
While Jim Jinkins said he is grateful to Disney for giving him the chance to tell more Doug stories and for that reason does not regret signing with Disney, he's also one of the creators that agrees with the majority of the fanbase that the Nickelodeon version was better, except for "The Dark Quail Saga". Constance Shulman (Patti's voice actress) and Billy West (Nickelodeon Doug/Roger's voice actor) prefer the Nickelodeon version too.
In its first season on ABC, Brand Spanking New Doug became the most popular program on ABC's Saturday morning lineup, attracting the highest ratings of any cartoon on the network. Its high-rated second season on the network contributed to its position as the number one network in Saturday morning ratings.
The Disney episodes were later rerun in broadcast syndication and on Disney's One Too block on UPN.
Trivia
- Nowadays, Disney's purchase included the Doug trademark and all rights to future merchandising, while Nickelodeon still has the rights to the first four seasons.
- Both the fifth season and the movie are available on Disney+.
Videos
Comments
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